Heather Macaulay, President at MadTech discusses the latest adtech and martech innovations driving impact in the ecosystem in this MarTechSeries Q&A:

__________

Tell us about yourself and your role at MadTech, and provide an overview of MadConnect.

I’m Heather Macaulay, President of MadTech, where I oversee revenue and marketing for our organization. MadTech is a product-led consultancy focused on adtech and martech transformation. Our platform, MadConnect, was born out of the industry’s need for scalable, bi-directional communication between platforms. As the adtech and martech ecosystem becomes more interconnected, maintaining these integrations has become an engineering burden. MadConnect simplifies this by providing a secure connector hub that ensures efficient, reliable data flow, allowing clients to focus on innovation rather than integration challenges.

How are recent trends in adtech and martech influencing digital advertising and marketing today?

With the decline of 3rd-party data due to privacy regulations and signal loss, 1st-party data has become even more critical. But it’s not just about collecting data—it’s about making it consumable. AI is emerging as a powerful catalyst in how we analyze and leverage this data for personalization and optimization. However, challenges remain, such as creating scalable, secure data infrastructures that can handle the complexity of real-time AI applications. We’ve been helping our clients think through how they can create a consumable data layer that enables real-time insights, while maintaining compliance and security in an evolving regulatory landscape.

What modern adtech and martech innovations from the global marketplace have piqued your interest recently, and why?

One of the most exciting developments is the convergence of adtech and martech. We’re seeing a growing need for both to work seamlessly together, as marketers are now required to not only drive personalization but also measure and optimize campaigns in real time. This convergence is enabling more holistic strategies, where brands can bridge the gap between customer data management (martech) and real-time advertising delivery (adtech), making it easier to connect audience insights with action.

Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Steve Rotter, CMO @ DeepL

What are some of the biggest challenges today’s digital advertisers and marketers face?

The complexity of our industry is a major challenge. Advertisers and marketers are juggling multiple platforms, channels, and data sources, often leading to siloed efforts. Data organization is key, but managing, enriching, and activating that data in real time is still a pain point. Another challenge is keeping up with the evolving privacy regulations while still delivering personalized experiences.

Can you tell us more about MadConnect’s recent Snowflake Native App and how it enables end users?

MadConnect solves a connectivity challenge that many Snowflake clients were experiencing. Our Snowflake Native App provides seamless bi-directional communication between a client’s Snowflake environments and other platforms like CDPs, DSPs, enrichment providers, clean rooms, and social platforms. Our connector hub will allow Snowflake customers to power use cases like audience activation, measurement, enrichment, and collaboration. It gives end users the flexibility to share and retrieve data in real-time from within the Snowflake environment. And we’re making it easier than ever to use MadConnect by allowing users to pay for the service with Snowflake credits.

Why are bi-directional hubs useful for today’s advertisers and marketers?

Due to changes in privacy regulations and the loss of 3rd-party identity signals, the shift to more sensitive 1st-party data has resulted in reduced data mobility. In response, Data as a Service (DaaS) solutions are becoming increasingly prevalent, requiring bi-directional query-based connectivity rather than processing large files at the destination. Data needs to be readily available and accessible, and MadConnect powers this by enabling seamless, real-time connectivity, ensuring that advertisers and marketers can act on data efficiently and securely.

Can you talk about the growing influence of AI on the martech and adtech ecosystem and your thoughts on the future of AI in this domain?

AI is transforming how we think about martech and adtech. We’re already seeing its use in predictive analytics, content generation, and dynamic creative optimization. The future of AI in our space will focus on how well we can harness it to process and analyze massive amounts of data in real-time. I believe AI will also push boundaries in personalization, enabling marketers to create hyper-targeted campaigns that adapt instantly to consumer behavior. However, ethical AI use and data privacy will need to be front and center as the technology evolves.

Five martech and adtech leaders you’d like to call out to (and why) before we wrap up.

1. Scott Brinker –  I so admire his expertise in mapping out the martech landscape.
2. Scott Messer – I love his passion for the programmatic category and his advocacy for publishers
3. Lauren Wetzel – helped define the clean room category and an incredible example of why we need more female CEOs
4. Erica Ayers Baden – broke through all of the critics and made Barstool the media success it is all while building her own fierce brand
5. AdTechGod – anonymous yes but he’s humble, kind and really knows how to build a community. He took a risk and now he’s one of the most beloved characters in our industry!

Marketing Technology News: Top Multitouch Marketing Tactics to Boost B2B Lead Engagement